


The Time Alec Eventually Got A Boyfriend

by heartsdesire456



Series: Max Two 'Verse [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Background Character Death, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Canon-Typical Violence, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 23:49:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7335952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As trouble brews in the Shadow World as a killer targeting Downworlder tourists strikes multiple victims in New York, Alec finds himself more and more distracted by his new friend, Magnus Bane. Lucky for him, Magnus's feelings for Alec and his son are growing. Unlucky for both of them, the fate of their relationship hangs in the balance alongside the fate of Alec's future and Downworlder lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time Alec Eventually Got A Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [The Time Alec Eventually Got A Boyfriend (Traduccion)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15140546) by [yuki_yuki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuki_yuki/pseuds/yuki_yuki)



> Ha that summary is so bad, but whatever!
> 
> I DID IT!
> 
> I MADE IT A SERIES!!!

Alec held Max’s hand as he walked up the stairs all by himself, making sure he had a firm grasp should he start to fall over. When they came around the turn of the stairs, there was a gasp from above. “Oh look at you!” Alec looked up to see Magnus leaning in his doorway, making an over the top smiley face down at Max. “What a big boy, climbing up the stairs all by himself,” he said, and when Max got to the top step Magnus clapped for him, kneeling down so that Max could run over and hug him.

“Did it!” Max cried excitedly, looking back at Alec from where he stood, hugging Magnus around the neck in a hold that had to be choking the poor guy, even though he wasn’t complaining. “Daddy, didya see?”

Alec grinned. “Well I was right beside you, so yes, I sure did,” he said, and Magnus gave him a chastising look for teasing his own son. Alec cleared his throat. “Magnus, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked, and Magnus must’ve seen something in his eyes because he stood up, ruffling Max’s hair.

“Maxi, you go see if you can find Chairman Meow. He likes you better than me and I am afraid he’s just run off on me today,” he said, and Max nodded seriously, running past Magnus into his apartment. Magnus looked at Alec, who came up the last step, lowering his voice as he spoke.

“Last night a warlock was attacked and killed with her husband,” he said softly, so Max couldn’t hear them. “The Institute isn’t making any formal statements about it yet because they want to work out who is targeting Downworlders, but that’s the fourth tourist that happens to be a Downworlder that’s been killed this month, and this time a Mundane was killed, too, so they’re starting to actually take it seriously.”

Magnus’s face lost some of its color and he let out a weak sigh. “Who was she?” he asked, and Alec tried to remember.

“Ana something. She was from Germany. She and her husband just came on vacation, nothing business related with the Downworld. It’s the first warlock though. We had those two vampires from Spain and that Werewolf from California just last week,” Alec murmured. “Nobody knows I told you, so don’t let my name get mixed up, but I know you might hear things none of us could, even with all of Isabelle’s contacts.” Alec looked past Magnus with worry in his eyes. “It’s tourists so far, but who knows who could be next. There are so few warlocks living in the open anymore, it makes me nervous to take him out. I definitely won’t let him go out with my siblings these days. I trust them with my life, but I don’t want to trust anybody but myself with his life.”

Magnus rubbed his arm comfortingly. “It’s okay, Alexander.” He smiled warmly. “Besides. You’re not the least known name in the Downworld. Everybody knows you have a warlock child. If they came after him, they would have to be suicidal.”

Alec wasn’t comforted though. “Murder/suicide happens all the time,” he added and Magnus winced. Alec sighed. “Anyways, I’m sorry to drop all this on you, but I thought you should know-“

“No, of course,” Magnus said firmly. “Being high warlock comes with its responsibilities. It’s my business to know what violence is being done towards Downworlders in this city. You did the right thing.” He smiled. “Now, are we ready to let the little one have some magical playtime, or do you need anything else?”

Alec relaxed some and nodded, gesturing to the door. “Lead the way.”

~

Magnus had been helping Alec with Max’s magic for almost a year now, as it was coming up close to Max’s second birthday, and Alec still found himself absolutely breathless when he watched Magnus and Max doing magic together. Sure, Max’s control on his magic was almost nonexistent, so it got dangerous sometimes, but Magnus was able to guide Max’s magic with his own and, in moments just like this one, Alec sat and watched in wonder as Max created little colored, sparkling lights from his little hands and Magnus astutely guided them into multi-colored dots around the living room not unlike stars in the night sky.

Max gleefully laughed and smiled, running around and throwing more little colored lights into the air, all of which Magnus expertly guided so that they didn’t fly across the room and scorch the wallpaper as they had the first few times they tried, before Magnus managed to learn to grasp the magic with his own. Alec always took any opportunity that presented itself to throw in a little learning. “What color is that one, Max?” Alec asked, pointing to the light that was coming off of Max’s palm and slowly floating into the air.

“Green!” Max cried excitedly, running around the coffee table excitedly. “And blue! Like me!” he said, pointing to one up near the ceiling. “And white, like Daddy!” he said, and Alec grinned.

“Are you picking on me for being so pale?” he teased and Max shook his head, though Magnus smirked.

“You are rather vampiric looking some days,” Magnus teased. “Your skin could use some sunshine, Darling.” Magnus’s pet names were nothing new to Alec, but he still blushed just like he had the first few times Magnus called him things like that. Magnus was always flirting, though. It seemed to be his default with everyone, so Alec tried not to let it affect him. 

“Magnus!” Max cried, eyes wide when suddenly his little lights started to positively shoot out of his hands, filling the room and whizzing around very quickly.

Magnus quickly rolled onto his knees and held both hands out to each side, snapping his fingers on each hand to freeze them and Max entirely. “It’s alright, he’s fine,” he said immediately, knowing what Alec was going to ask. Magnus swept both hands dramatically and the lights all disappeared in a blink. He unfroze Max, and gestured gracefully with one hand, making Max’s little fingers curl into a fist. Max looked at his hand with a small pout and Magnus smiled. “Max,” he said softly, crawling over to him. He sat back on his legs, palms flat on his thighs as he faced Max head on. “Can you do me a favor, Blueberry?” he asked, and Max nodded quickly. “Alright, I’m going to let you open your hand and I want you to try really hard to make just one, single blue light, just like you. Just think real hard, okay,” he instructed. “Think about one little light the same color as you are, can you do that?”

“Okay,” Max agreed, and when Magnus held his own hand up, curled into a fist, only to slowly begin uncurling it one finger at a time, Max’s hand did the same thing. On Magnus’s palm, a little golden light sparked into life, and, much to Alec’s amazement, on Max’s sat a small blue light, the same dark blue as Max’s skin. “Did it!” Max cried loudly, beaming. “Daddy! Look! Blue!”

Alec nodded eagerly. “Yes you did!” he said, unable to stop the small, loving twist of his lips as he looked at his little boy and the little light on his palm. “That’s so good, Max. Good job,” he reinforced, and Max giggled some, biting on his other pointer finger as he watched the light he was actually controlling for the first time ever.

Magnus pouted over his shoulder at Alec. “Heeeey, I did it, too,” he joked and Max nodded very seriously.

“Magnus did it,” he said, giving his father a look as if he was chastising him for once.

Alec chuckled in amusement. “Good job, Magnus. Very nicely done,” he praised and Magnus pretended to flutter bashfully.

“Oh my stars, however will my little heart take such high praise!” He turned back to Max and cleared his throat. “Alright, Max. I want you to try one more thing, okay?” He moved his hand closer to Max’s. “Make the light go away when you close your fingers. Like this.” He closed his fingers, and as he did so the light grew tinier and tinier until it disappeared just as his fist closed. “Just think hard, and think about it getting smaller and smaller and going away.”

Max’s little face grew very serious(ly adorable) as he focused really hard on making his light go away while closing his little fingers. He managed to make the light disappear just a second before his fingers closed over the light, and he looked up, eyes wide like he had forgotten that he could control it at all in the span of a few minutes. “GONE!” he cried cheerfully, shoving his hand in Magnus’s face. “Light’s gone!” He ran over to Alec, waving his little fist. “DADDY LIGHT’S GONE!”

“I saw!” Alec praised, pulling him into a hug. He kissed his face and ruffled his hair. “I’m so proud of you, Max. You’re such a big boy,” he murmured, holding him tight.

Magnus gracefully unfolded to his feet and grabbed Max’s bracelet. He returned it to Max’s wrist while Max was still in Alec’s arms, and then sat down on the couch beside Alec. Alec let Max go and Max grabbed onto Magnus, hugging him, too. Magnus just patted his little back gently. “You did so well today, Maxi. Before long, you’ll be able to do everything I can,” he said, which made Max positively glow under his praise. Alec’s heart melted just a little when he saw how much Max’s joy affected Magnus. 

Before he met him, Alec would’ve thought the High Warlock of Brooklyn would be a smooth-talking, sneaky, wild, selfish person with all the power and influence he had, and while some of it wasn’t misplaced (Magnus was very smooth-talking and he was known to be a party animal), for the most part Magnus was the most genuine, caring, and selfless person Alec had met. Alec had worried the first few times he brought Max to unleash his magical abilities under Magnus’s supervision that Magnus refusing any payment was some ploy to hold a debt over Alec’s head, but the longer he knew him, the more he began to realize that Magnus genuinely wanted to help a young warlock and his harried father. Magnus was so proud of Max even in non-magic-related successes, and he clearly cared about Alec’s son, and because of him, Alec himself. 

Magnus was a pretty great friend. They didn’t spend much time talking about things not related to Max or Downworld business, but the small-talk and jokes they had between themselves was always nice, and the way they had both learned each other as people pretty quickly made him someone Alec really valued in his life. And honestly, they had so many long, deep conversations that were about Max that Alec knew Magnus genuinely cared about. Most people, even occasionally his siblings, got sick of Alec bringing absolutely every conversation back around to Max in some way, but Magnus understood that everything in Alec’s life _did_ come back to Max in some way, and he never seemed bothered by that. Max was the absolute most important thing in Alec’s life and Magnus seemed to just _get it_ in a way that others didn’t really seem to. Alec attributed it to Magnus’s long life full of experiences that Isabelle and Jace didn’t have. They clearly understood Max was the most important thing to Alec, no doubt, but they just didn’t seem to have the same level of actual understanding that Magnus did.

Sometimes Alec wanted to ask Magnus if he understood because he had raised a child at some point, but he knew that chances were, if he had, it had been a Mundane that died, so that would be the worst thing to make Magnus talk about.

“You know what?” Alec said, barely able to believe what he was about to say until he had actually said it. “We should celebrate. Who wants to go get ice cream?” he asked, and Max, as expected, practically launched himself into the air in excitement.

“ICE CREAM?!” he cried and Magnus laughed in surprise.

“Wow, someone loves ice cream, huh?” he asked, and Alec shrugged.

“I know, I know, giving my baby ice cream is probably bad, but even my repressed, Shadowhunter upbringing involved ice cream,” he said and Magnus nodded with an amused grin. Alec gestured to him. “You deserve some too, of course. My treat for my favorite warlocks on a successful magic day.”

Magnus gave him a genuinely surprised but delighted looking smile. “Well Alexander Lightwood, are you suggesting I’m one of your favorite warlocks? I’m flattered.”

Alec hadn’t realized what he said, so he blushed a bit, but shrugged. “To be fair, you two are the only warlocks I know,” he added and Magnus smirked.

“Still called me a favorite.” He looked at his white pants and cream colored shirt and hummed. “Well, something tells me white is not the right color for going anywhere with a hyper baby with ice cream on hand,” he said and Alec winced at the thought of what might happen to that white outfit, which seemed to be all Magnus needed to see. “Excuse me, Darling, I’ll go change and be right back,” he said, resting his hand on Alec’s shoulder as he stood and walked around the back of the couch and off to change.

Alec shivered as Magnus’s fingertips trailed across his shoulders and his nails just glanced off the bottom of Alec’s neck on his way past. 

~

Alec carried Max, who Magnus had graciously glamoured for their very visible walk, in a piggy-back ride as they maneuvered their way through more foot traffic. Magnus led the way to his favorite ice cream shop in the neighborhood, talking a mile a minute the whole way about all the best flavors and toppings. “I’m just saying, pistachio is a nut, and ice cream should not be nut-flavored, it should be at best accented with nuts,” Magnus said with finality.

“Daddy likes weird ice cream,” Max said and Magnus looked at Alec with a grin. 

“Oh yeah? What kind?” he asked Alec, who rolled his eyes.

Alec tickled Max’s leg, grinning when Max squealed. “It’s not weird,” he defended. “I like to get them to add fresh strawberries to coffee ice cream.”

Magnus looked at him as if he’d uttered something blasphemous. “That sounds horrific. Wow. Max, your father is clearly nuts,” he said, twirling his finger around his temple, which made Max laugh.

“Yeah well, Max likes banana ice cream with M&Ms,” Alec accused, looking up at Max, who leaned over his head when he tilted it.

Magnus made a dramatic gasping sound, clutching at his chest. “Max, that’s just as weird as your dad! Gah, I have to introduce you guys to normal things, like cookie dough, or cookies and cream, or peanut butter cookie dough-“

“Sounds to me you just like cookies,” Alec said and Magnus laughed.

“I really do, actually,” he admitted. “I’ll buy all the ingredients to make cookies and end up eating the dough before I actually cook them by sandwiching the dough between oreos.”

Alec winced. “That sounds like you should be crazy fat,” he joked. “So much sugar.”

Max nodded very seriously. “Uncle Jace sayed lotsa sugar makes you fat.”

“It’s ‘said’,” Alec corrected quickly. “And yes, Uncle Jace is correct, Maxi. But no matter what, always eat sugary snacks before you ever eat something Aunt Izzy cooked, right?” he asked, and Max nodded seriously.

“Cuz it makes tummy aches happen,” Max agreed firmly.

Magnus looked at them curiously, but didn’t raise the question, because they had arrived at the ice cream shop.

When they went through the line to get their ice cream, Alec paid for all three of them before Magnus could stop him. “Alec, I had that,” Magnus complained and Alec shook his head, smiling quietly.

“I asked you to join us, so my treat.” Alec grabbed a handful of napkins, already knowing what a mess Max was going to make. They sat down and Max made grabby hands at his ice cone. “Alright, I’ll let you feed yourself but _please_ be careful,” Alec stressed.

“Okay, Daddy,” Max said, and then proceeded to stick his face right into the ice cream, getting it on his nose and cheeks as he took a giant bite. “Mmmmmm nom nom nom,” he said, and Alec snorted, slapping himself in the face.

“I knew it. I knew better,” he said, looking at Max with a shake of his head, unable to help but smile.

Magnus snickered, eating a spoonful of his own ice cream. “Darling, be honest, it’s too cute to be mad at,” Magnus accused and Alec grinned sheepishly, but didn’t disagree. Magnus watched, smiling the whole time, as Max managed to smear ice cream so far up his face it was in the ends of his hair. “Blueberry, you’re going to need an entire bath after this, not just for Daddy to wipe your face,” he said and Max just gave him an innocent look like he had no idea what Magnus was talking about… and then stuffed his face with ice cream again.

“Oh don’t mind it too much, Dear, because you’ll miss it one day before too long.” Alec turned to the elderly couple at the table next to theirs and saw the lady was looking at Magnus with a ‘sweet-old-lady’ expression. “You never know how fast they grow up until it’s already happened.”

Magnus looked at Max, then to the old lady and gave a flustered little smile. “Oh, he’s not- I’m not-“

Her husband cut Magnus off as he gave a sweet look to the three of them. “Oh it’s true! Seems like just yesterday we were taking our daughter out for an ice cream, just as young of a family as you three,” he said with a deep chuckle. “Now we’ve got grandkids that’re nearly ready to start their own families.”

“Now that is one to look forward to,” the lady said with a titter. “When you boys have grandkids, the real fun begins, because you get to spoil them rotten and let their parents worry about the hard parts of raising kids, because you will have already done your time dealing with discipline and such.” She positively melted as she smiled at Max. “Though your little one seems so well behaved!”

Alec chuckled awkwardly. “Um, thank you. Mostly he’s just too engrossed in his dessert to be bad,” he replied, sparing a glance at Magnus, who looked more than a little startled and uncomfortable, going by the _massive_ and mostly panicked looking smile on his face.

“Oh, we’ll leave you boys alone,” the husband said knowingly. “It’s just so nice to see a young couple and their baby having an afternoon together at the ice cream shop.”

After the old people moved on, Alec finally looked at Magnus, who was staring down into his empty ice cream cup. “Sorry. That was really weird. I know it has to be super strange.”

Magnus finally looked up and shook his head. “No, it’s okay.” He looked at Max, who was crunching the cone from his ice cream now, almost finished with the whole thing. “I guess it isn’t that common among Mundanes for a young father to go out for ice cream with his baby and just a friend during the afternoon.”

“Probably,” Alec said, making a face. “I don’t know much about Mundanes, though. Other than the fact they really like noisy entertainment. I swear, you can’t go into a Mundane store without either music playing or a television on somewhere. What is it with them and noise?”

Magnus cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t watch television or listen to music?” he asked, and Alec shook his head.

“I know the songs my parents sang to me when I was little, and we have orchestras and stuff in Idris, and I have some of that music I play when Max can’t sleep, but we don’t have the type of music you hear coming from Mundanes’ cars and stores. And we don’t have televisions at all,” he said, and Magnus shook his head slowly.

“You mean Max hasn’t ever watched Sesame Street? Oh my Gosh, no educational kids shows, and he’s already two! It’s tragic. That’s so sad.” Magnus gasped. “Oh my Gosh, you’ve never seen Finding Nemo!” he cried, clutching his chest dramatically. “Alexander, next time you bring Max to my place, we’re doing magic and then we’re sitting down and watching cartoons, okay? Both of you, you have to. I cannot, in good conscience, allow a two year old child in the twenty-first century miss out on children’s entertainment. It is imperative to child development! There’s a reason kids these days develop and grow smarter faster than when I was born. Kids these day know how to read when they’re three and four years old, and my parents couldn’t ever read.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “We play with letter blocks and stuff. I am teaching my child colors and letters and correct verbs. I’m just doing it personally, not with TV shows.”

“But the TV shows make them retain better!” Magnus said excitedly, clapping. “Oh yay, I’m going to download all of the things I can find to show him next week! We’ll have so much fun, Alec, Max will learn so much.”

Alec sighed and shook his head, though his smile made it clear he wasn’t actually annoyed. “Whatever you say, Magnus. You are his ‘teacher’, after all.”

“Wonderful!” Magnus reached out and ruffled Max’s hair. “Sweet Pea, you are gonna have so much fun, I just can’t wait.”

~

Alec gave Magnus an apologetic look that bordered on puppy eyes when he opened the door, and Magnus frowned before he glanced down and noticed a child on each side of Alec. “Well, either I’ve lost it, or there’s double the normal number of kids today,” he said, looking between the boy on Alec’s left and the baby on his right. “Alexander, Darling, did you notice the extra shadow you have today?”

“I’m so sorry,” Alec stressed. “My parents are in town and they brought my little brother and when he asked where I was going he basically demanded to come with me and said he’d just follow me if I didn’t let him, and I’d rather bring him than risk him trying to navigate the subway alone,” he said, glaring down at the fair-haired boy beside him.

Magnus smirked. “Well, come on in, I guess.” He led the way back to the lounge and winked over his shoulder. “I know the truth, you were feeling outnumbered, so you had to bring an extra Nephilim.”

“I wanted to see Max Two learning magic!” the child said excitedly, and Magnus stopped and turned back around, eyebrow raised at the small one.

“Max Two?” he asked, and the boy nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, I’m Max One,” he said, and Magnus remembered that, yes, of course, Alec had told him that his brother and his baby had the same name. 

He looked up at Alec with a smile. “Oh hey, I remember that story. Of course, of course. Well Max One,” he said, deciding to just go with it no matter how much Alec cringed at it. “Your darling nephew isn’t so much ‘learning’ magic, as learning to control _his_ magic,” he explained, holding his hand out for his favorite pupil. “Speaking of, I’m so sorry to ignore you for this long, Blueberry,” he said, and Max smiled brightly, running to bypass his hand and slam into his leg, hugging it tightly as he looked up at him.

“It okay!” Max grabbed his uncle’s hand. “Sit! Sit! Wanna show you!” he said, pushing at the older child until he flopped onto the couch with an amused look.

Magnus chuckled softly, going to kneel down with Max on the spot he’d cleared by pushing the coffee table out of the way. “Max One is really in luck today, because I made you a promise, Alexander,” he said as Alec joined his brother. “After some magic time with Max, I’m introducing him to children’s television,” he said and Max One looked excited.

“You have a TV?! Cool!” he said excitedly. “Oh man, some of the older kids whenever I’m at an Institute not in Idris have internet and I order comic books all the time, and one of them had movies in their room so we watched so many superhero movies!”

Alec turned and gave him a stern look. “Did Mom and Dad let you watch superhero movies?” he asked, and Max rolled his eyes.

“You’re so boring, Alec, you’ve never walked past the big screens in Time Square and wanted to watch the movies on the posters?” he demanded, giving is big brother a flat look.

Alec shrugged. “Not really? I saw a few movies when I was younger. Wasn’t that into it. Mundane’s are the only ones bored enough to watch movies and TV all the time.”

Magnus scoffed. “Speak for yourself, Sir Stick In The Mud,” he said, and Max One laughed in surprise, looking at Magnus eagerly. Magnus had a feeling Alec really was the ‘boring’ sibling, but it wasn’t that big of a problem, especially as pretty as he was. “Well, Max Two,” he said, tickling Max so that he giggled at the name. “Ready to get that bracelet off? Let’s show Max One what you can do,” he said, and Max eagerly held out his wrist so that Magnus could remove the bracelet so that they could practice magic together.

It was less shocking than he expected when Magnus realized that he had come to enjoy his time with Max every week more than anything else he did.

~

“Now that is just ridiculous,” Alec said, staring at the TV with a startled expression. He gestured towards the TV with his hand. “Is that meant to be a _vampire_?” He scoffed. “And why is it teaching children to count, vampires-“

“Aren’t real as far as the Mundanes know,” Max reminded him, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, Alec, have you never watched a Dracula movie? Or read a book about vampires? There’s some good manga-“

Magnus choked on his tea. “Hey, vampire manga is usually not for little boys, oh my God, who buys you this stuff?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

Max huffed, shifting baby Max in his lap so he could turn back to face the TV. “I’m _eleven_ ,” he stressed.

“And those things are definitely full of things not for eleven year olds,” Magnus said with a sassy little rock to his shoulder. He looked over at Alec. “Your brother needs better supervision.”

Alec shrugged. “Probably. He stays with our parents or with tutors, though, so I can’t do anything about that. Jace, Izzy, and I were alone most of the time after I turned ten and we adopted Jace, because my mom said I was responsible enough to take care of them.”

“And yet she argued you weren’t responsible enough to have Max Two?” Max asked, twisting around to look at him in surprise.

Alec sighed. “Yeah, well, you know Mom. She’s never held him. Not once,” he pointed out. “He’s her grandson and she still pretends he isn’t even at the Institute. If I had it my way, you would be at the Institute with me, too,” he said and, when Max turned around, Magnus could see a sad look in Alec’s eyes as he looked at the back of his brother’s head.

“DADDY!” Magnus looked to see what had Max so excited and he was pointing at the TV, looking back at Alec. “Daddy, look! Blue like me!” he said excitedly, bouncing in his uncle’s lap as he turned back to the TV.

Alec made a slightly frightened face and turned to Magnus, whispering, “What the hell is that?!”

Magnus snickered, patting Alec on the knee as he leaned forward. “That’s right, Max! The Cookie Monster is blue like you!”

“He got square cookies!” Max said happily. “I wanna eat square cookies!” Before Magnus could reply, the Cookie Monster picked up another cookie and Max laughed. “Triangle, too!”

Alec looked at Max in surprise. “I didn’t think you knew triangles yet,” he said with a small, delighted grin, leaning forward to watch Max as he pointed out the other shaped cookies, such as circle and star. “Yay! That’s so good,” Alec said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “You’re such a smart boy, Blueberry.”

Max laughed until he squealed as the Cookie Monster gobbled down all the shaped cookies. “He’s funny,” Max said, looking back at Alec. “And blue!”

Magnus looked at Alec to see his reaction and his breath stuttered in his throat when he saw the unbridled look of complete and utter adoration in Alec’s eyes as he looked at his son. Magnus had seen many times how much Alec loved his baby, but it never failed to make his heart do a little shimmy in his chest to see how good of a father Alexander Lightwood was. As wrong as it had been of his parents to put him in the position as a child, maybe they weren’t that wrong about Alec being the responsible, caring one, because Magnus had never witnessed a more natural parent than him. It sure didn’t hurt Magnus’s little flutters that Alec had adopted a Downworlder when most Shadowhunters would’ve rather left it on those steps than adopt it themselves. 

~

Neither of them could say no to Max wanting to watch ‘just one more’ episode, and one more still, so it was nearly night before Alec finally started to leave. “Alright, Blueberry, do you need to potty before we go?” he asked, and Magnus had to bite back a fond smirk at how cute it was to see Max standing at Alec’s feet and Alec standing full height, looking down at his tiny child and talking to him. Alec was a giant and Max was so small for his age, that it was hilarious. Magnus missed whatever Max said, but Alec hummed. “Yeah, well, we’re going to the potty anyways,” he said, scooping Max up to carry off to the bathroom. Magnus knew Alec had started trying to potty train Max, but he gathered from Alec’s exasperation that it wasn’t going well so far. 

Magnus didn’t realize he was still staring after them until the flump of the other Max flopping onto the couch beside him startled Magnus out of his reverie. He looked over at Max, raising an eyebrow when he found the kid staring at him. “Yes?” he asked slowly, and Max tilted his head, blond curls shimmying at the movement.

“Are you my brother’s boyfriend?” he asked plainly, and Magnus immediately felt a surge of shock and slight panic.

“Max-“

“No, it’s okay,” Max said quickly. “I mean, I don’t think Mom and Dad have really opened their eyes yet, cause they occasionally make remarks about how Alec won’t ever find a wife with a warlock baby, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize my brother doesn’t like girls.”

Magnus had slightly suspected as much, but he had also considered that he might just be a victim of wishful thinking when he thought Alec might possibly be gay. “Oh?” he asked carefully, and Max rolled his eyes in a very Alec-like move.

“He never looks at any of the girls in Idris and I’m only eleven and I get distracted by how pretty some of them are!” he said in a tone that made Magnus giggle slightly before he managed to catch himself. “He never looks at girls, ever, and he used to blush when him and Jace were training and Jace would take off his shirt, but he just said he was hot and nobody questioned it, because I think I’m smarter than everybody else,” Max said suddenly, tapping his chin. “Yeah, everybody else is pretty stupid.”

Magnus hummed. “Jace, huh? Isn’t that his Parabatai?” He made a slightly grossed out face, nose scrunching. “And your brother?”

“Well he is adopted, but don’t worry,” Max said quickly. “He totally doesn’t do that anymore. Jace is totally just our brother now. So don’t think he’s like, only dating you because Jace is his Parabatai.”

Magnus sighed. “Max, look, whether or not your brother likes girls, or boys, or both like I do, if he hasn’t ever said anything to you, you shouldn’t talk about it behind his back,” he chastised and Max ducked his head guiltily. “Also, no, I am not your brother’s boyfriend. Alexander and I are definitely not dating.”

Max sounded skeptical when he said, “But you call him ‘Darling’,” while looking at him in utter confusion. “And you touch him all the time. Like, on his leg or on his arm. Alec doesn’t like people touching him. He never has. And he looks at you with that gross, sappy look when you do magic with Max.”

“Well of course he does, he loves his son,” Magnus said simply. “He gets this adorably loving look on his face when he’s looking at Max, if you’ve never noticed. He lights up whenever he’s amazed by his baby doing magic.”

Max shook his head. “No, he definitely was looking at you, not Max.” Magnus’s breath stuttered as he tried to come up with some other explanation, only the ‘what if’ floated across his mind before he could help it. Max just smirked. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Besides, if he wasn’t the acting-head of the Institute, he would’ve probably gotten in trouble for keeping a warlock baby as his son. I can only imagine what trouble he’d get in for having a warlock boyfriend,” he said, looking worried. “I won’t tell anybody, I promise.”

“Max, I really-“

“Alright,” Alec said as he came back from the bathroom with Max on his hip. “We’re off,” he said to Magnus, who quickly stood, stepping over to them. “I’ll see you later?” Alec asked, as always, as if he was afraid he would change his mind, but Magnus just smiled brightly.

“Of course, Alexander.” He leaned in and ruffed Max’s curls, smiling at him. “Bye bye, my sweet little Blueberry. You did so well today.”

Max waved, his little hand shaking from side to side in that cute way that small children waved, and Magnus reached out to tap his palm, watching his skin fade from blue to white. Lately, he had been doing temporary glamours on Max so that Alec could walk home with him without bundling him up and covering all his skin. It wore off not long after they got home, and Alec still had to keep Max pretty covered up when he came to visit, but he still helped out on the trip home so it was a little easier on Alec. “Bye bye, Magnus,” Max said, making a face when Magnus leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

“Be good for Daddy,” he said softly and then straightened up to smile up at Alec, only to turn and plop a hand on the other Max’s shoulder. “And you, remember what we talked about, Buddy. No more R-Rated Manga.” He winked and Max scoffed.

“Yeah, whatever,” he said, heading towards the door. He did stop last minute and wave at Magnus. “Bye, Magnus.”

Magnus went to lock the door behind the Lightwoods, only to smile when he heard Max loudly telling his brother that, “I like him, he’s totally cool.”

~

When, the next week, Magnus presented Max with a Cookie Monster stuffed toy that made him go absolutely crazy with excitement, Alec watched Magnus’s face while Max hugged the crap out of him and was hit by a wave of something he wasn’t even sure he could identify when he saw how much Magnus cared about Max.

~

“What is _that_?” Alec looked up from his desk and saw his mother looking down at where Max sat on the floor beside the desk, playing with his Cookie Monster toy.

Max looked up at her and held up the toy. “Cookie Monster!” he said excitedly. “Look!”

Alec bristled a bit when Maryse just ignored Max, going to sit in front of him in a chair, but he didn’t say anything. “What is a cookie monster?” she asked him and he smiled as he glanced over at Max, who was making his Cookie Monster dance. 

“It’s from a television show Magnus showed him a few weeks ago. It teaches children how to count and shapes and colors and such.” He nodded to Max. “That one loves cookies and uses cookies to count and do shapes. Max was really excited since it’s blue like him.”

Maryse hummed, looking less than pleased. “I thought that warlock was preventing him from doing magic, not showing him Mundane things.”

Alec let out a steady, annoyed breath. “Mom,” he said forcibly calm. “He’s teaching Max to _control_ his powers, not shut them off. The only reason he has the bracelet to shut his magic off now is because he can’t control it. He’s going to learn, though, and then he won’t have to wear that anymore.”

Maryse narrowed her eyes some. “Alec, eventually something will have to be done about a warlock living in the Institute. This place is not meant for him. You already had to change some of the warding so that it doesn’t hurt him. Without any magic, it isn’t so bad, but if you plan on unleashing his powers and letting him use them, then something will have to change.”

“What are you talking about?” Alec asked, tensing.

She shook her head. “I’m just saying-“

“No, it sounds like you are implying my son won’t be allowed to live here,” he said in a low tone, so as not to scare Max. “As long as I run this Institute, he’s going to be here.”

Maryse hesitated for a while before she said, “Well actually, I know you forget it, but your father and I run this institute. You cover for us when we’re traveling.”

It hit Alec like a shock as he sat back, looking at her in surprise. “Yes, but we both know that the Clave is giving this Institute to me soon enough so you and Dad can take positions in Idris.”

She nodded. “Yes, that was the plan. The Clave was actually going to give you the Institute when you turned twenty-six, but you’re already nearly twenty-four and you aren’t married.”

Alec’s heart pounded in his chest as he realized what she was implying. “So I have to get married in two years?”

She shook her head absently. “No respectable Shadowhunter is going to marry you with a warlock child, and you’re already nearly twenty-four, any girl not already married that is your own age is going to be far less respectable than you need.”

As his breath came more quickly, he looked at his mother searchingly. “Then who will get the Institute if not me? Jace?”

“Unlikely,” Maryse said. “His family wasn’t in the business of running Institutes in the past. Isabelle might could be given it if she stops all her Downworld, party nonsense. That’s no better than your situation.”

“My situation as in being a father,” he said harshly. “You know, he’s your grandson.” He pointed towards Max. “You act like he’s just some-some _thing_ that I’ll lose interest in, but he’s your fucking grandson!” he snapped, clearly startling his mother. “Fine!” He stood up. “If the Clave would have me choose between being the head of this Institute and being a father to my son, they can have it all. Hell, they can have my Marks,” he said, clearly startling her. He scooped Max up, hating how quiet he was as he looked between Alec and Maryse with wide, scared eyes. He kissed Max’s hair. “I’m sorry for yelling. It’s okay. I promise.” He bent down to grab the toy Max had dropped and handed it to him as he carried him out of the office, leaving his mother alone.

~

The thud of fists against the punching bag was the only sound Alec heard besides the beating of his own heart. He glanced over at Max every few minutes to make sure he was still asleep on the floor, curled up with his Cookie Monster toy, but otherwise his brain was fully shut down. He wanted to forget his mom’s bombshell and focus entirely on his workout. He had been in his office all day and it felt good to get in some time with his body instead of his brain.

“Hey Alec-“ He stopped when Isabelle cut off, but she just looked at Max as she came in, gesturing to him as she turned back to Alec. “Why is Max here?”

Alec panted some, wiping his hair off his forehead. “I just didn’t want him to be away from me right now.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to,” she said worriedly. “We need you. I’ll find someone I trust to look after him for you while you go get geared up.”

“What? Why?” he asked, looking at her with concern.

She shook her head sadly. “It’s happened again. And it’s bad. Really bad.”

~

There was blood surrounding the bodies of three people and all Alec could do was stare in shock and horror. There were four other Shadowhunters besides himself, Izzy, and Jace, all of them searching with their scanners for anything that gave off demon energy around the entire level of the parking garage, but so far there was nothing. Just the bodies of three Downworlders hacked up so that their torsos were just a mass of blood and tissue and clothes.

An entire family. Nobody was sure, but their assumption was that it was a mother, father, and their daughter. The little girl looked like she probably wasn’t even ten years old and she was laying on the concrete dead at Alec’s feet. He had never seen a dead child before in his life, of any species, and it was all he could look at now.

“Werewolves.” Alec slowly lifted his head and saw Jace across from him. “They’re werewolves, we’ve confirmed it.” He looked down at them and shook his head. “Whoever did this-“ He stopped, looking away, clearly just as shaken as Alec. “The mother-“ Jace took a breath and walked around the gruesome scene to stand beside Alec, pointing to the woman. “The mother was on top of the daughter when we got here. From the positioning of the father, further off to the side, I can only guess whoever did this killed him first, but the mother and daughter didn’t run, so they probably aren’t acting alone. And I would guess from the way that blood is a drag mark,” he said, pointing to the blood further away to the mother’s side of the horrible scene, “Bastard must’ve attacked the mother and the daughter and either left or just didn’t try to stop the mother from crawling over to her kid before she actually died.”

Alec’s pulse pounded in the lump in his throat as he looked at Jace. “So she watched her daughter die, then,” he said and Jace nodded, raising a hand to shove his hair out of his face and subtly wipe at the corner of his eye. Alec swallowed hard, feeling the same sting trying to get him as well as he looked back at the family. Alec shuddered, exhaling harshly as he lifted his hands to his face and pressed his palms into his eyes. “Fuck,” he breathed and Jace grunted in reply.

The click of heels made them both turn to look at Isabelle, who came walking over with her phone in her hand. “There’s a new Alpha to the Werewolf pack, but he’s coming here now. He doesn’t know of a family with just one daughter, but he’s on his way to see if he can identify them.”

Alec nodded. “There were no personal items at all? No wallets or passports or IDs?” he asked, looking around. “The last victims all had their things on them, still.”

Isabelle shrugged. “It’s possible one of these cars is theirs and their bags are in it. Without keys we can’t figure it out. They might’ve been in the car and got out to run and left their stuff there.”

“The rest were tourists,” Jace pointed out. “It’s likely these three are, too.”

Alec nodded. “Take photos of their faces and send them to be distributed to all the Institutes. It’s unheard of, but I know Dad can get it done. Make sure the head of every institute contacts their local Werewolf leaders to see if we can identify them.” He swallowed. “Then let’s get the bodies out of here. Take them back to the morgue. We’ll see if we can figure out the cause of death there and store the bodies until we identify them and can get their remains back to their Pack.”

Jace nodded, putting his hand on Alec’s shoulder as he passed. Alec turned to speak to Isabelle, but there was a shout from the stairwell and the door opened with a bang. “I found something!” Lydia came to Alec in a hurry, holding out something. “I didn’t want to open it just in case,” she said, and Alec saw she had a small, stoppered glass vial in her hand. He held out his hand and she put it in his palm. He looked at the clear liquid droplets in the bottom and he narrowed his eyes, looking closely, only to see a faint shimmer in the air inside the bottle above the liquid.

“I think this is magical,” he said, frowning. “Maybe Seelie.”

Izzy knocked his arm with the back of her hand. “Hey, you think Max’s teacher could figure it out? Magnus Bane has tons of contact in the Downworld.”

Alec shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll take a look at it at the Institute and if we can’t figure it out, we can call him.” Alec almost hoped they had to call him just because his day had sucked and Magnus always seemed to make him feel calm for some reason.

~

When Magnus arrived the next morning, Alec hadn’t slept at all. He had been busy on the phone with various heads of Institutes trying to convince them to fucking call the local Werewolf Alpha and show them the fucking pictures because apparently they thought it wasn’t that important if it didn’t happen in their town. When Magnus was led into his office, Alec really wanted to hug him, which was something he hadn’t had the urge to do with anybody but Izzy or Max in a very long time. 

“Wow, I was going to make a joke about how they were so thorough in frisking me when I came in that that one Shadowhunter owes me dinner, but you look terrible, Alexander,” he said as he crossed over to the desk. He leaned over it and touched Alec’s face. “You’re all pale,” he said, feeling of his forehead, and Alec let his eyes fall shut as he leaned against the warmth of Magnus’s palm. “Are you alright, Darling?”

Alec managed a tired smile. “I’m exhausted and on the verge of telling the entirety of my race to fuck themselves and leave to go be a Mundane.”

Magnus tutted and circled around the desk. “Alright, first off, you didn’t tell me what you needed on the phone, just that there was another attack.” He walked behind Alec’s chair and put his hands on his shoulders, and the moment he started massaging Alec’s neck and shoulders, Alec sighed, letting his head hang forward. “More tourists?”

“We’re trying to find that out now,” Alec said, his voice going softer as he let Magnus work some of the tension he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying out of his body. “We haven’t identified the bodies, but I’ve sent their photos to the various Institutes around the world. However, I’m not having much cooperation. I want them to show them to their local Werewolf Alphas, but they all seem to not actually think they should have to do shit since it didn’t happen in their cities.”

“Werewolves and pictures, so multiple werewolves this time?” Magnus asked and Alec nodded, gazing forward at nothing as the image of the dead little girl was burned into his memory.

“A family. Parents and a little girl,” Alec said hoarsely. “Jace found them on patrol with another Shadowhunter. He thinks the father was killed first, and the killer must have an accomplice because the mother and child didn’t run away, and then the killer must’ve left after the mother and daughter were attacked, because it looks like the mother was able to drag herself over to her daughter before she died.” Alec closed his eyes as Magnus’s hands stopped, just resting on his shoulders. “It’s just- it’s so horrible, Magnus. I’ve never seen anything so bad. I’m a Shadowhunter, and I never-“ His voice cracked and he swallowed. “I’ve never seen a dead child before.”

Magnus let out a rough exhale and Alec could feel him rest against the back of the chair as his arms came around Alec’s shoulders to cross over his chest in a sort of hug. “Oh Alexander.”

“She watched her baby die, Magnus,” Alec whispered, reaching up to curl his hand around Magnus’s wrist. “I have to find whatever monster is doing this. I can’t- I can’t let anybody else die.”

Magnus rubbed absently at Alec’s collarbone with his thumb before speaking. “What do you need from me?” he asked softly.

Alec turned his head and looked at Magnus, whose chin was resting on the back of his chair. “There was an empty vial found at the scene. It had a little liquid left in it. We can’t figure out what it is, but Izzy suggested we consult a warlock who can at least tell us if it’s nothing or something. It looks magical to me. Maybe Seelie related. There’s this strange shimmer to it.”

Magnus nodded. “I’ll do what I can. I- I should probably see the bodies, too. See if I can sense anything you guys couldn’t pick up.”

“Alright,” Alec said softly. “I guess-“

The door opening interrupted Alec’s next sentence. “Alec, Mom woke up and has heard all about last-“ Isabelle stopped, looking at Magnus in surprise, and Alec realized then how it must look with Magnus’s arms around him as he leaned over the back of the chair, and Alec’s face inches from Magnus’s while he held his wrist. “Last night,” she finished, then smirked as Magnus pulled away from Alec and Alec quickly spun his chair and stood. “Well hi. You must be Warlock Bane,” Isabelle said, wiggling her fingers at him. “I’m-“

“You must be Alexander’s sister, Isabelle,” he said with a bright smile, walking over to her. “There’s no missing that resemblance,” he added with a playful wink. “And please, call me Magnus.”

“Well, Magnus, I assume you just arrived,” Isabelle said. “I’ll take you to the lab to see the vial while Alec goes and deals with our mother being filled in on the details of the attack last night.”

Alec nodded. “Take him to the lab, and then let him see the bodies in the morgue. He might can give us something on the attack weapon.”

Isabelle smirked as she looked up at Alec, and he fought down a wave of panic at that expression. She knew something he did not want her to know and she was well aware of that. “Sure thing, _Hermano_. Come join us when you finish with Mom.” She offered her arm to Magnus, who graciously took it, curling her hand around his elbow so that she could lead him on.

~

Magnus knew what he was going to see when he got to the morgue, but looking at family in front of him that had been brutally murdered was so hard. And he couldn’t even bring himself to look directly at the dead child until he absolutely had to. “It’s so… horrible,” he mumbled mostly to himself.

Isabelle walked past him and nodded. “We’ve got to find whoever is doing this. Or whatever. The vial was a bust, so if you can learn anything from them it would help.

Magnus held up a finger. “I’m not saying the vial was a bust, just that I can’t identify where it came from without something to compare. I did confirm it is Seelie, though.” He made a face. “Just not something I can directly identify.”

Isabelle nodded, going over to the first body, the father. She pulled the sheet back to reveal his chest and Magnus was horrified by what he saw. “I’m not sure if it was a tool or something’s claws,” Isabelle explained solemnly. “If it was a weapon, it’s probably a knife, not a sword. It’s all one type of cut, so whoever it was, they went in on this poor guy. The victims all probably bled to death, just like the others, only every one of these three have multiple wounds. This guy has seven cuts,” she said. “The little girl has four and the woman has five.” She shook her head. “The previous murders were single stab wounds, not many. Personally, I’m worried that might mean they killer is escalating.” She looked at Magnus. “We need you to tell us if there’s any magic being used.”

Magnus exhaled slowly. “Alexander has mentioned a few times how they haven’t found the person who murdered those tourists, but I never expected this.”

“Yeah about that,” she said, a smirk slowly twisting her lips. “You and my brother-“

Magnus turned to her, raising a finger. “What you saw, my dear, was not-“

She snorted. “Your arms were around him,” she accused, rolling her eyes. “Don’t worry, I haven’t spilled to anybody that he’s gay before now, I wouldn’t do it just because he finally landed a guy.”

“Isabelle, Alec and I are just friends. That’s all,” he said softly. “Your brother may be gay – and for the record you’re the second person to tell me that – but he isn’t anything but my friend.” He smiled quickly. “Though you aren’t the first to make that mistake. Your baby brother asked me if I was Alec’s boyfriend and when I said no, he didn’t believe me. And this old couple thought he and I were a young couple with a baby one time,” he added. 

She looked at him, clearly trying to detect a lie, and then groaned. “Damn. I thought maybe he wasn’t going to die a virgin,” she said bluntly, making Magnus gasp.

“Isabelle! What a thing to say about your own brother,” he said, shaking his head. “Besides, the only time we’re in the same room is with his son, when the hell would we have got up to anything that interesting?”

She shrugged. “Not like I’m the only one who skips out of patrol duty to go get laid. I know Jace has done it. Pretty sure Lydia does, too. Alec hasn’t before, but I thought maybe if you were on the menu.” She sighed. “Poor Alec. He totally thinks we don’t know, but we all do.” 

“Including your parents?” he asked and she shook her head quickly.

“Oh no, no way. But Jace and I have talked about it before, trying to decide if we should tell him we know he’s gay. And if Max asked you, he must have noticed, too. But Mom and Dad probably wouldn’t even dream of it being possible. And nobody else has ever known him well enough to realize.” Isabelle shrugged. “I was worried he’d have to marry a woman anyways and never get to fall in love, but since he adopted Max, his chances of marrying are basically zero, so that helps that part at least.” She looked at him. “Are you _suuuuure_ you guys aren’t a thing?”

Magnus sighed, shaking his head. “Sadly, no. Normally I probably would’ve made a move, but he’s a Shadowhunter, I’m his baby’s teacher, and Max is too important to risk it.”

Isabelle smiled sadly. “Too bad. You really love his son, so that’s already enough to make you perfect for him.”

“Let’s just…” Magnus cringed, looking at the row of bodies. “Let’s just do this so I can get away from these bodies at least,” he said, and Isabelle nodded, leading him closer to the man’s body so he could check it over for any signs of magic.

~

Magnus couldn’t detect any magic, so Isabelle let him leave while she started the actual autopsies. He decided to go find Alec and see if he could see Max while he was there. He found his way back to Alec’s office, but nobody was in there, so he decided to find the main center and just ask someone. The first young woman he came across was leaving the command center so he turned and fell into step with her. “Excuse me, do you know where I might find the head of the Institute?” he asked.

“Probably the family quarters,” she said brusquely and kept walking. Magnus humphed in annoyance but turned and headed back to the command center.

He spotted a man standing by the map of the Institute, looking at it vacantly, and walked up to him. “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the head of the Institute,” he said, and the blonde turned to look at him, giving Magnus a clear view of one blue eye, and one half brown and half blue. “Oh, you must be Jace,” he said, immediately recognizing the rather unique feature Max had mentioned when talking about colors.

“Oh hey, you must be Magnus Bane,” Jace said, looking him up and down. “Huh, I sort of figured you would be taller.” Magnus wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and Jace just nodded his head towards a hallway. “If you mean our Mom, that way, but if you mean Alec, he went to Max’s room.”

Magnus smiled. “I was actually hoping to find Alexander specifically to ask if I could visit the little Blueberry while I’m here,” he said and Jace nodded, turning to point to a different hallway.

“Down there, around the corner, second door on the left. If they aren’t in there, try the one directly across from it, that’s Alec’s room,” he said, and Magnus nodded.

“Great, thank you,” he said, earning a clap to the shoulder that surprised him as he headed the way Jace had told him. When he followed the directions, he knocked on the door and heard some reply, though he wasn’t able to decipher what it was, so he opened the door.

The sight that he was met with was an amusing one, to say the least. Alec was sitting on a ladybug bean bag chair that was far too small for his large frame while Max brushed Alec’s hair with what was clearly a toy fork, not a comb or brush. “Am I interrupting Daddy’s haircut?” he asked, and Max, hearing his voice, turned around and gasped.

“Magnus!” he cried, dropping the fork in his rush to run over to crash into Magnus’s knees, hugging his legs. “Daddy, it’s Magnus!” he said excitedly.

Alec blushed slightly as he, clumsily, struggled his way off of the tiny bean bag and stood to his full height. “You never saw that,” he grumbled and Magnus just smirked.

“Of course not, Darling,” he said with a teasing wiggle of his eyebrows.

Alec wiped his palms on his jeans as he came closer. “Did you find anything, or-“

“We can talk about that later,” Magnus said, nodding to Max, and Alec looked relieved. “Actually, I just wanted to come visit my favorite little Blueberry,” he said, smiling down at Max. “I figured I’m already here, so why not ask if it was okay to see him?”

Alec smiled and rolled his eyes. “Magnus, you’re always welcome to see Max,” he said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “I trust you more than most people in this Institute when it comes to my son, so you don’t even have to ask.”

Magnus felt legitimately touched by Alec’s words, and he covered it by leaning down to look Max in the face. “You know what? I can conjure some bows and barrettes to put in Daddy’s hair this time,” he said and Max perked up.

“Make it pretty like your hair!” he said excitedly and Alec gave Magnus’s glittery coif an alarmed look.

Magnus grinned and winked at Alec. “Well you heard him, Daddy.” He nodded over to Max’s bed. “You sit on the floor, we’ll sit on the end of the bed,” he instructed.

Alec gave a small pout, but turned and went to the spot on the rug at the foot of Max’s bed. Magnus snapped his fingers and a package of clips and barrettes with bows appeared on the bed as Max ran for the bed and clambered up onto it. Being a low bed with a toddler rolling around in mind, Magnus was able to sit on the end of the bed with his feet on the floor on either side of Alec and be at just the right height to play with Alec’s hair. Max sat on the bed beside Magnus, telling him where to put what colored clips and bows.

The whole time, Alec didn’t complain once, and in the mirror across the room, Magnus could see a content look on Alec’s face as he looked right back at them. Magnus remembered what Isabelle had said about him loving Max being the main requirement for her brother’s affections, and he couldn’t stop the flutters in his belly every time Alec smiled at their reflection with the softest, warmest, happiest look in his eyes that Magnus had ever seen. It was so easy to pretend that he really did belong to Alec and Max and this was a typical playtime as a family. Even just the momentary thought of him and Alec being a couple and Max their child was enough to make Magnus’s heart ache with longing. 

As he ran his fingers through Alec’s hair and felt the warm weight of Max pretty much sitting on his knee, all Magnus wanted, in that moment, was to belong to the two Lightwoods who had stolen his heart.

It was the growling of Alec’s stomach that interrupted their playtime, and Alec blushed when his stomach rumbled loudly. Max giggled at the sound. “Daddy’s tummy is rumbly!” he said, dancing some. “Rumbly tumbly, rumbly tumbly!” he sang, and Magnus snickered at his antics.

“When’s the last time you at something, Dear?” he asked, tugging at Alec’s hair lightly.

Alec tipped his head back, making an exaggerated thinking face as he rested his head on Magnus’s chest and looked at Max. “Probably too long, huh, Max?”

“Yep, cause your tummy is angry at you,” he said, making Alec smile and relax a bit more against Magnus’s body. 

“It probably is about time to get some lunch for you, too,” Alec said and Max whined.

“But I’m playing with Magnus,” he said, pouting.

Magnus reached out and tapped his little pouty lip, making Max give him a grumpy look. “Oh I know, Love, but eating lunch is very important. I promise, you and I can play together again really soon, okay?” he asked, hugging Max into his side. “Daddy is still going to bring you to visit me, same as always. Then we can play with magic, right?”

Max frowned but nodded. “Okay.”

Alec leaned over and kissed his face. “Thank you for being a good boy for me,” he said, and then turned and stood up, using Magnus’s knee to push off of. He stretched as he stood up, gesturing to his hair. “Can you…”

Magnus nodded, snickering as he clicked his fingers and removed all the bows and clips. “There we are. Back to normal.”

“Thanks,” Alec said. He grabbed a toy off the floor and brought it to Max, and Magnus was excited to see that it was the toy he gave him. “Here, play with Cookie for a minute and I’ll go get us some lunch and come back to eat with you instead of in my office,” he promised and Max seemed to already be over his little pout, because he just grabbed his toy excitedly and started putting the leftover clips in the Cookie Monster’s ‘hair’.

“Goodbye, Maxi,” Magnus said with a wave before following Alec out of the room. When Alec shut Max’s bedroom door, Magnus crossed his arms, looking up at him expectantly. “Alright, be honest with me, how long has it been since you ate?” he asked and Alec gave him a heavy look, shaking his head some.

“Don’t even,” he said with a weighty sigh and Magnus grew more concerned. He could see the rings under Alec’s eyes and he reached out, resting a hand on Alec’s elbow. 

“Alexander, are you okay?” he asked worriedly. 

Alec snorted harshly. “Not really,” he said bluntly. He looked around and nodded to the door across the hall from Max’s room. Magnus nodded and followed Alec into Alec’s bedroom. 

Magnus was surprised to see how drab and impersonal the acting Head of the Institute’s room was. Magnus was almost positive, as he looked around, that that bed was far too small for Alexander as well. “No wonder you look tired. Your feet must hang off of that thing,” Magnus said bluntly, turning around to face Alec, only to frown when he finally saw Alec lowering his façade. He looked miserable. “Oh Darling,” he sighed, walking closer to Alec. “Alec, what’s wrong?”

Alec, to Magnus’s surprise, visibly restrained himself from reaching out, only to flush and bitterly bite his lip. “Can- Can I hug you?” Alec asked, looking angry at himself, but Magnus just nodded eagerly, stepping into Alec’s space.

“Whatever you need,” he said, and as his arms went around Alec, Alec positively collapsed into his arms. He stayed steady on his feet, but his whole upper body folded in around Magnus, arms going around his back as he let his head drop to Magnus’s shoulder. Magnus tightened his hold around Alec’s waist, rubbing his back slowly. “Alec?”

“I’m so tired,” Alec admitted, voice strained. “I haven’t slept in more than a day, and my mom dropped it on me that the Clave is reconsidering the plans for me to take over the Institute, and that _family_ ,” he croaked, and Magnus nodded, stroking soothing, broad strokes over Alec’s back. “I’m just so tired of everything.”

Magnus held him firmly, leaning his head against Alec’s. “Why is the Clave reconsidering their plans?”

“Because of Max,” Alec said without hesitation. “The plan since I turned eighteen was that my parents would be recalled to Idris and would join the council, and I would get control of the New York Institute and take over training my little brother here. They wanted that by the time I’m twenty-six, and I would’ve been the youngest Institute head New York has ever had, but now my mom says that I’m nearly twenty-four and unmarried, which is not what they expected of me at this point, and as long as I insist that Max is my son, it’s unlikely the Clave will have the official Head be someone with a Downworlder son.” Alec’s breath hitched some. “All my life, I’ve done everything right, because I wanted to run this Institute and they don’t think I should have it because I’m single and adopted a warlock.”

Magnus wasn’t that surprised, honestly. It was horrible, but he had always known that, while Alexander was a wonderful man, most Shadowhunters wouldn’t ever take in a warlock baby. “What will you do?” he asked, and Alec sighed, relaxing further into his hold.

“Nothing. Whatever they do, I’ll have to let them do it and just accept it.” He shook his head. “The law is hard, but it is the law.” He hesitated. “Unless they try and make me give Max to someone else, in which case they can have my job, my weapons, my stele, and my Marks, fuck it,” he said fiercely. “I’d rather suffer being stripped of my Angel powers and join the Mundane world with my son than ever let them take him away from me.”

Magnus knew that Alec had never actually witnessed someone stripped of their Marks the way Magnus had, but he also didn’t doubt for a second that Alec would choose that torture over letting the Clave separate him from his son. “I can’t believe they still act like he’s a pet or something. Max is a child. He’s your child. He’s your son!”

Alec pulled back finally, standing tall, though he didn’t remove his arms from around Magnus. He met Magnus’s eyes and shook his head, anger in his features. “My own mother treats him like he isn’t actually my son. He’s her grandson and she talks about him like he’s a ‘thing’, not a person. I love my son, Magnus. I love him more than I love my Parabatai and my baby sister, and for me, that’s really saying something-“

“Of course you do,” Magnus said softly, nodding seriously. “I’ve never raised a child, and I never had the ability to father a child, and my own parents didn’t love me because of what I was born as, but I have seen what the love of a parent is like,” he stressed. “I have friends whose mothers weren’t even tricked like my mother, but who were attacked and _raped_ by a demon, and they still loved their warlock child enough to do whatever it took to protect them no matter what their baby was born from. I’ve seen a Mundane mother love her son more than life itself even after he was turned into a ‘soulless’ vampire. I watched your face the morning you showed up at my house terrified for the safety of your baby and never once terrified _of_ your baby,” Magnus added, looking into Alec’s eyes. “You, Alexander, reminded me why I’ve ever had any faith in the Nephilim in the past even though the bulk of them wouldn’t care if all my species were wiped out. You were a young man who found a baby warlock whose own mother hadn’t been able to escape fear of him and you fell in love with him as if he was your own flesh and blood. You adopted a blue child that your species is trained to see as inferior, and you are raising him beautifully, Alexander,” he praised. “You love him because flesh and blood _doesn’t matter_. You have never treated Max like something less than what you are, because he is your son. The love a parent has for their child is the strongest love there can ever be. You would not be half the man you are if you weren’t such a good, _true_ father to your son, and fuck your mother if she doesn’t understand you love Max the same way she loves you.”

Alec looked at Magnus for a long moment and Magnus felt his cheeks warming up when he realized what a rant he’d just gone off on, but Alec’s smile held no teasing or malice as he finally reacted. “To be honest, my mother carried me for nine months and raised me from birth, and I honestly don’t know if she has ever loved any of us as much as I love Max,” he said and Magnus smiled sadly. Alec leaned a little closer, bowing his head slightly. “Thank you, Magnus. You don’t know how much you- how much I-“ Alec stumbled over his words and ended up just shaking his head. “It’s good to know I’m not totally crazy.”

Magnus smiled up at Alec brightly. “Well, to be fair, I’m not usually considered the sanest person around, so maybe we’re just both crazy.” He raised a hand and cupped Alec’s face gently. “They’ll regret those choices if they make them, Alexander. You were born to be a leader.”

Alec saw nothing but honesty in Magnus’s eyes and he took a breath, nodding. “Thank you. Seriously, Magnus.” He managed a small smile. “I needed that.”

“I may not have known you very long, but I know _you_ ,” Magnus said simply, giving Alec a little grin. “They don’t realize what they’re missing out on.”

Alec’s growling stomach made them finally leave the refuge of Alec’s room, and Alec walked Magnus out, promising to bring Max to see him on Saturday no matter how busy he was.

~

When his phone rang while he was watching Magnus teaching Max how to move things with magic, he almost didn’t answer. However, he knew how intense things had been lately so he didn’t want to miss anything important, so he stepped away into the hallway heading towards the rest of the flat and answered the phone. “Alec,” he said, and immediately the reply he got made his blood chill.

“Alec, we’re on our way to Izzy and Lydia’s position. They answered a call at a vampire bar and they got there while an attack was underway. The victim is still alive, for now. Lydia is with him and Izzy went after the attacker. We need all the hands we can get, because the victim was a vampire and we can’t get in touch of the New York Clan to see if it’s one of theirs, and we don’t know how to save them-“

“Text me the address,” Alec said simply as he hung up. He rushed back to the living room and Magnus looked up, eyes wide when he saw Alec’s face.

“Alexander, are-“

“Can you portal us to the Institute?” he asked quickly, and Magnus frowned, but nodded.

“Yes, I can, but-“

Alec shook his head, tossing Max’s bracelet to Magnus as he ran to grab his and Max’s stuff. “No time to explain, I’m sorry, but there’s been another attack and the victim is still alive, for now, but I need to get Max to the Institute and get my weapons so I can go try to either help save the vampire or pursue the attacker.”

Magnus finished putting Max’s bracelet back on and stood up, picking Max up with him. “I’m so sorry for cutting our time short today, Maxi, but I’ve gotta help Daddy catch a bad guy, okay?” he said, holding the baby on one hip while opening a portal one-handed. Alec had to admit, it was amazing how powerful and talented Magnus was for a warlock. He definitely had earned the title of High Warlock, that was for sure. 

A shimmering purple portal opened against the wall and Magnus reached out and took Alec’s hand and tugged him through the portal with him and Max. As soon as they were through, Alec’s phone dinged and he looked at the address while he got his balance, though it didn’t take long. “Magnus, can you take Max to his room?” he asked, looking up at him. “Do you remember the way?”

Magnus nodded. “I’ll meet you back here, I can at least portal you somewhere closer to the site, if I don’t know the site itself.”

They went their separate ways and Alec only bothered grabbing his bow and jacket and gloves, not worrying about anything else as he hurried back. When he got there, Magnus was just coming out of the hall. “I need to get here,” he said, showing Magnus the address on his phone. “You know anywhere near there?”

“I know there,” Magnus said worriedly. “That’s a nicer vampire bar, where some of the ones with class like to meet. Shit, I have friends who go there,” he said, handing Alec his phone as he turned back and opened a portal, looking up at him. “I’m coming with you,” he said and Alec wanted to argue, but he just didn’t have time, so he nodded, grabbing onto Magnus’s elbow so he didn’t stumble when they went through and landed on the other side.

~

Alec and Magnus stepped out of the portal into the alley beside the address Alec had been given, and the frantic action around them made it clear that the vampires from the club had come out and found Shadowhunters everywhere and weren’t too happy about it. Magnus nodded to the group of vampires being barred from the alley. “I’ll go calm them down. I don’t need vampires versus Shadowhunters going down,” he said, and Alec made his way to Lydia and Jace and two others who were kneeling over somebody on the ground.

“Who is it? How hurt-“

Jace stood up. “Alec, it’s bad,” he said, and Alec moved closer, only to gasp when he saw the Vampire lying there, his shirt ripped open, and his eyes shut. If he were a human, Alec would think he was dead, but the fact he hadn’t turned to dust meant that, in spite of not breathing or moving, he was alive. There was blood trickling steadily from his wounds, no matter how Lydia tried to stem the flow of blood. “None of us know how to help him,” Jace said, shaking his head. “We can’t identify him, and we thought about asking some of those vampires over there, but they’re too rowdy to not worry about a fight-“

“Oh God, no!” Alec turned at the sound of Magnus’s cry, only to catch Magnus as he stumbled to a stop beside Alec, horror etched into his features. “Raphael!” he sobbed fearfully, looking at the vampire on the ground.

Alec held him around the waist as Magnus’s knees trembled. “You know him?” he asked and Magnus nodded quickly, looking up at Alec.

“Raphael’s my friend, he’s- he’s one of my only real friends, Alec, we have to help him!” He wrenched himself free of Alec’s arms and shoved Jace aside, dropping to his knees. “Raphael, _abres tu ojos, por favor!_ ” he said in a rush, cradling Raphael’s head in his left hand as he ran his right hand over his chest, purple light shining from his palm.

Alec watched, absolutely entranced as the bleeding stab wounds slowly close up, leaving only shallow cuts that bled far more sluggishly behind. Magnus looked up at Alec, tears streaming down his face as he held his friend’s unconscious body against him. “He needs blood.”

Lydia groaned. “By the Angel, we’re so stupid,” she said, and immediately she was on her feet, running to the mouth of the alley. Alec knew the bar they were outside of, being a vampire bar, would definitely have blood.

Alec walked around to Magnus’s side, crouching down beside him. “If he gets blood, will he be okay?” he asked, and Magnus nodded, sniffling as he rocked back and forth, arms still around the vampire he was holding. Alec looked down at the vampire, whose age was indiscernible with the vampire immortality, but who had the appearance of a young man who probably wasn’t even old enough to drink at the time of his transformation. “Who is he? Raphael?” he asked gently, and Magnus swallowed, clearing his throat some.

“He’s second in command of the New York Clan,” he said, and Alec’s heart sank, knowing how bad that probably was. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to his friend’s unmoving one. “Raphael, please, please be okay,” he cried softly.

Alec reached out, rubbing at Magnus’s back. “Lydia’s getting him some blood,” he reassured and Magnus nodded, picking his head up. 

“Alec, who did this to him?” Magnus asked, eyes growing harder. “These are the same stab wounds on that family, aren’t they?”

Alec nodded. “Looks like it. Izzy and some of the others went after them, so maybe we’ll catch the bastard this time,” he said, and Magnus nodded, anger unlike anything Alec had ever seen filling Magnus’s normally kind eyes. Tonight had reminded Alec that Magnus was an all-powerful Downworld leader. He had created portals while holding a baby, he had calmed down a pack of angry vampires in moments, and he had healed a dying person in seconds. Alec found himself glad that he, at least, was on Magnus’s good side, because that much power probably meant you didn’t want to be on Magnus’s bad side.

“I’ve got it!” Lydia shouted, running back along the alley. She had some blood bags in her hands, and Alec took them from her.

Magnus grabbed one and shifted Raphael in his arms, propping him up. “You might wanna get back, this will get messy,” he said as he ripped part of the bag open with magic and tipped it into Raphael’s mouth. “C’mon, drink, Raphael. Drink up,” he murmured, and for a moment Alec worried he wasn’t going to respond, but then suddenly, the vampire snapped his fangs at the bag, hand coming up to squeeze it, dousing himself with blood as he ravenously drank the liquid that spilled down his front. His eyes looked wild when they finally opened and Alec shoved the last bag at Magnus and stood up to back away, hand going out to guide Jace and Lydia to do the same. 

This time he seemed more aware of himself, and he grabbed the bag and bit it with his fangs, making neat holes, so that he could drink all of it, not waste it everywhere. Once the blood was all gone, he tossed the last bag aside and lay panting across Magnus’s lap. Alec watched as the remaining wounds closed up before his eyes. Magnus just laughed tearfully, not caring he was covered in blood as he hugged his friend. “Raphael, you’re alive!”

“ _Dios_ ,” Raphael panted, looking pretty rough still, though he clearly was no longer dying. “Magnus? Why-“ He looked around, blinking some when he looked at all the Shadowhunters. “Why are there Shadowhunters all around me, Bane?” he demanded suspiciously.

“Because, you stupid vampire, you almost died!” Magnus said, smacking him in the arm. “You aren’t allowed to die on me, Santiago.” He helped him sit up, and Raphael looked around, seeming to collect his wits pretty quickly for what he’d been through.

“It was a man,” Raphael said slowly. “There was a man. I heard him praying. I was going to ask if he was lost, because I know some of the vampires here are not my people, and for all I know, they could attack him. I did not want that, so I went to talk to him and he stabbed me,” he said, frowning. “What did he stab me with that did so much damage?” he asked slowly.

“That’s one thing we want to find out,” Alec said, holding out his hand to help Raphael to his feet. Magnus steadied him, but Raphael did take the offered hand, standing up. “I’m Alec Lightwood, head of the Institute. You’re the first New Yorker this person has attacked, but several Downworlders have been killed over the past few months.”

Raphael nodded slowly. “I am almost certain the man was Mundane, but he has to have something either demonic or magical to make him able to kill Downworlders,” he said. He looked around at Jace and Lydia and some of the others and nodded seriously. “Thank you. For helping me.” He looked at Alec, and Alec was surprised and confused to see an amused smirk on his lips. “Magnus didn’t lie about the Nephilim who actually cared about us Downworlders’ lives.”

“You’re still a person, no matter what species,” Alec said firmly. “Our job is to protect people from those that break the Law, and unless you do that, you’re under our protection.”

Raphael gave him a nod. “It is not often that a Shadowhunter gives a damn about anything but finding a reason to kill us, so for you to actually enforce those words, Lightwood, you have my respect.” He turned to Magus. “I need to get home. I need to call a meeting with the Clan,” he said, and Magnus nodded seriously.

“Alexander, I’m going to take him home,” Magnus said, and Alec nodded his approval. “Thank you, Darling. Do tell Max that I’ll come see him tomorrow. That’s still okay, right?” he asked and Alec nodded firmly.

“Remember, you’re always welcome,” he said seriously. “Be careful, okay? If this guy has escaped us, I don’t want it being you he comes after next,” he said and Magnus saluted him with a little wave, all he could do while supporting his still-weak friend.

Magnus opened the portal and glanced back. “Please be safe, Alexander, and I’ll do the same.” Alec watched as Magnus and his friend disappeared through the portal that then closed behind them, and he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

Alec turned to Jace and Lydia. “Come on, let’s go join the hunt. This monster is captured tonight, no matter what it takes.”

Jace held out his hand, grabbing Alec’s in a firm lock. “Agreed.”

~

It took right up until dawn to actually manage to catch the person and they had to render him unconscious. He was bound to be out for a while, strapped to a cot, so Alec decided to go get some rest. It seemed like his head had barely hit the pillow, it seemed, when his door creaked open. “Daddy?”

Alec sat up on his elbows, frowning when he saw Max in the crack of the door. “Max? You know better than to leave your room,” he said as he sat up, only to blink when he saw that there was a hand gripping Max’s shoulder with black painted nails. “Magnus?”

Magnus stuck his head in, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry, but Isabelle called me. Max was scared because of all the commotion in the night, and how fast we ran off, and she thought he’d calm down if I came to see him, but he just wanted to see his father.”

Alec nodded, holding out his hand. “Come here, Blueberry,” he said sleepily.

Max ran over to the bed, reaching up, and Alec picked him up easily. “Daddy,” he said with a sigh, snuggling against Alec’s bare chest. “Magnus, too,” he said, and Magnus stilled in the doorway, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights.

Alec looked at Max, then glanced at the bed. “Um, Max, I don’t really think Magnus can fit with us,” he said, leaning back against his pillows with Max sitting on his stomach. “Daddy’s bed is pretty tiny.”

“No, Magnus!” Max said, his little lip wobbling some as he looked at Magnus. “Don’t go,” he said, and Magnus quickly walked over.

“Oh, no, I won’t go anywhere,” he promised, ruffling Max’s hair. “How about I just sit right here, huh?” he asked, crouching beside the bed. “I’ll be right here.”

“You can fit,” Max argued, gesturing to about six inches of bed at Alec’s side. “I’m scared,” he said and Magnus groaned.

“Sweetheart, I’m a bit bigger than you,” he pointed out. “Look, I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. He snapped his fingers and a chair appeared beside the bed. He sat down and held Max’s hand. “See? I’ll stay right here.”

Max pouted, but nodded finally. “Don’t go,” he commanded, and Magnus nodded seriously.

“I won’t go anywhere.” He smiled and kicked his suddenly bare feet up on the side of the bed, looking over at Alec pointedly. Alec rolled his eyes but flipped the edge of his covers over Magnus’s feet as he rolled to the side, curling his arm around Max’s little body. Magnus leaned his head against the edge of the bed and tangled is fingers through Max’s little ones. “Daddy needs some sleep so you close your eyes, too, Sweetheart.”

Max grumbled some but relaxed in his father’s hold. “Nap time,” he agreed very softly and Magnus could see a smile on Alec’s lips even though his eyes had shut again. Magnus laughed a bit in his throat and was surprised but pleased when Alec shifted and pressed his knee into Magnus’s ankle to shush him. Magnus wasn’t exactly untired himself, so he simply closed his eyes and drifted off as well.

~

The knocking at the door was what woke Alec up, but he was glad he did, because he opened his eyes just in time to see Magnus making the most adorable, grumpy, nose-scrunchy face from his spot facing Alec while he slept. “‘Lec, make’t stop,” Magnus muttered, too asleep to even use full words. 

Alec knew he was smiling like an idiot as he watched Magnus wiggle around in his seat and make faces, but he couldn’t help it. “Yes?” he called, and Max woke up with a grumpy grumble, rubbing his face against Alec’s chest.

“Daddy, quiet, I’m sleeping,” he grumbled and Magnus prized open one eye, closing it again when he saw Alec looking at him.

“Yeah, Alec, we’re sleeping,” he agreed.

The door opened and Jace leaned in, only to raise an eyebrow at the three of them. “Uh, Alec, Mom is here. They’ve called the Council here to deal with this Mundane.”

Alec scrambled to sit up, carefully catching Max before he could knock him off the bed. “The Council is here?! I don’t understand, why not just take the Mundane to Alicante?” he asked, instantly awake.

Jace shook his head. “They almost didn’t call a meeting at all. They don’t want to draw attention to the matter since they don’t think it’s important enough for a Council meeting.”

“The acting-head of the New York Clan of vampires was nearly killed,” Alec stressed. “That’s a big deal.”

“And that’s the only reason they’re calling a meeting at all,” Jace said. He shook his head. “I know, it’s stupid, but you can take that up with them.”

Magnus reached out for Max, and Alec handed him over. Max looked at Alec with a sad face, and Alec just leaned over, kissing his forehead. “Daddy has to go work, okay? I’m going to get Aunt Izzy to come look after you, because I might need Magnus, too.”

“Nooo, not Magnus, too,” Max said, hugging onto Magnus tightly.

Magnus brushed a kiss to Max’s hair. “It’s okay. Aunt Izzy will take really good care of you.” He stood up and slipped back into his shoes. “Alexander, I’ll take him to his room while you get dressed,” he said, and Alec nodded in thanks.

Alec wasn’t sure why Max had been very clingy the last few days, but he had a feeling he was just picking up on all the tension lately from the murders. Ever since the family had been killed – and still not identified – Alec’s frustration had been mounting. It was one thing for all of this to mess with him, but Alec was not alright with all of this stuff upsetting his child.

~

Alec walked into the library where the Council had gathered, and immediately felt apprehension when he saw the outrage on Lydia’s face as she stood at the head of the table while they all looked at her. “I’m sorry I’m late. I was asleep,” Alec said as he walked in, going to stand at Lydia’s side. “Council members,” he greeted, bowing his head some. “I was surprised to hear you all had convened here-“

“Let’s skip the introductory stuff and get to the heart of the matter.” Alec looked at Consul Penhallow as she spoke. “What we want to know, Alec Lightwood, is why there is a Mundane being held at the Institute? You were the acting-head of this institute at the time of his arrest, and you know very well that we do not interfere in Mundanes lives.”

Alec looked at Lydia, who gave him a pointed look, and he looked at Jace, who was standing with a confused look. “Consul Penhallow… that Mundane was caught in the act of attacking a vampire and we can confirm that he is the same one who has already murdered multiple other Downworlders in this city.”

“Yes, but our job is to protect Mundanes, not arrest them,” she said and Alec looked around the Council table, trying to see if he was the one going crazy here.

Lydia spoke up. “This Mundane has the Sight and is a threat to people in this city, we couldn’t just do nothing.”

The representative from the Mumbai Institute raised a finger. “Should that not be left up to the Mundane police force, then? Allow them to do their job in catching a dangerous person?”

Jace spluttered some. “Mundane police won’t notice that he’s murdering Downworlders left and right! They don’t know vampires exist, nonetheless that he was murdering them!”

Maryse spoke up. “I think what the Council is getting at, Jace, is that this is not our place to intervene. What Mundanes do doesn’t concern us.”

“I have a witness that can confirm that the last attack would have definitely concerned us,” Alec spoke up, and Consul Penhallow nodded.

“I’ll allow you to explain your actions,” she agreed, and Alec looked at Jace, who nodded, going to let Magnus in. When he returned with Magnus, there was a murmur of surprise from a few council members as Magnus came to stand on Lydia’s other side. He looked at Alec curiously, and Alec cleared his throat. “I’m sure most of you know of Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn,” he introduced. “He can explain how we had no choice but to intervene with the Mundane who was caught attacking a vampire.”

Magnus nodded seriously. “The vampire who was attacked was the acting-head of the New York Clan, Raphael Santiago. He is responsible for leading the vampires of the largest clan in the city. I was able to save his life with the help of Lydia, Jace, and Alec, only because the attacker was caught in the act. Without Raphael Santiago’s guidance, the Clan would probably fall back under the control of the actual head of the Clan, Camille Belcourt, who I can promise you, though she has never been caught, she has broken the Accords before, so by saving Raphael’s life, it saved all of you a lot of work.”

Consul Penhallow shook her head. “I appreciate your concern for our workload, Warlock, but speculation of what might have been is not what is important. Mundanes have hunted vampires for years, if this one Mundane took it upon himself to do so, we cannot be responsible for policing his actions. It’s unfortunate, but our laws protect Mundanes, not police their actions.”

“And what about Downworlders lives?” Alec demanded strongly. “Innocent people were dying. He murdered tourists here on vacation who did nothing wrong.”

The representative from Mexico City spoke up. “Vampires and Werewolves are not necessarily innocent. That is an assumption. Those who obey the Law may be, but some are slaves to their natures. Perhaps this Mundane was defending himself-“

“Against an eight year old child?” Alec demanded, voice growing louder. “He murdered the unidentified family that is still in our morgue right now. We were able to conclude that the mother watched him murder her child before he murdered her.” He looked around at them. “Two Spanish vampires, a werewolf from California, and a German warlock and her Mundane husband were killed, and once that Mundane was killed, the Clave wanted us to act, so we acted. When you thought a Downworlder was killing them, you wanted me to stop him. I stopped him and now you’re unhappy with me doing so just because he’s not a Downworlder?”

Consul Penhallow frowned. “A Downworlder breaking the Accords is our business. If a Downworlder had killed that Mundane, that is our job. But since it was not a Downworlder, it is a job for the Mundane police.”

Alec squared his shoulders as he looked her right in the eyes. “I refuse to release that Mundane. He murdered eight people, including a child, and if he is released, there is nothing the Mundanes can do about it since we cleaned up the Mundane’s murder because he lived in the Shadow World.”

“You, Mr. Lightwood, don’t get to make that decision,” Consul Penhallow reminded him sternly. “What he did was unfortunate-“

Magnus spoke up, cheeks flushed with rage. “Murdering eight people is ‘unfortunate’ to you? Eight people lost their lives! A little girl was murdered in front of her own mother! That man is a monster!”

“No, he was a Mundane hunting monsters,” the French representative said bluntly. “We cannot waste so much time and resources on Downworlders. They are not worth our trouble-“

“You’re the monster, then,” Magnus snapped, and Jace gently pulled him back before he could do something that made them really angry at him.

Maryse cleared her throat. “Consul Penhallow, I would like to apologize for my son’s actions and his dramatics right now. As you know, he has _opinions_ about this issue.”

“You mean my son,” Alec said in a threatening tone. “For those of you who may not know, my mother is speaking of my child, Max Lightwood. I don’t have opinions, I am a parent-“

“Don’t call that thing by a Shadowhunter name,” Maryse said, and Robert looked at her in shock, even as Alec slammed his hands on the table, leaning forward towards her.

“Then you should’ve never given it to me, because every day I wish more and more I wasn’t cursed with the same name as you,” he said coldly, earning a shocked silence from the entire Council. He stood straight again, clearing his throat. “The Mundane will be dealt with for the murder of eight people. I don’t care if most of you are bigots who lack the heart to care about innocent people murdered no matter what their species.” He shook his head. “Take my Institute and I still don’t care. If you take the authority from me and release him, I’ll just kill him myself,” he said bluntly.

A shocked gasp went around the table and Consul Penhallow leaned forward. “To threaten to harm a Mundane is a serious matter. You shouldn’t make light of that sentiment.”

He looked her in the eyes, head held high. “There are those on this Council who would have saw my son abandoned as an infant in the cold and left him there to die and pretended they never saw him just because he is a warlock, and yet threatening to neutralize a threat to every Downworlder in this city is considered a more terrible thing in the eyes of our Law. If you don’t see the problem with that, letting an infant die being preferable to punishing a murderer, then you don’t deserve to be the head of the Clave.” He bowed his head to all of the shocked faces around the table. “With respect, I will let you make your decision without my presence. I suddenly don’t trust the safety of my child in this Institute, so if you will excuse me, I’m going to go to my son.”

Alec felt a strange sense of zen as he left the library. He wasn’t upset, he wasn’t overwhelmed, he just felt calm. Like he had finally put everything on the board, and the uncertainty was completely out of his hands now. He had given his life to being the best Shadowhunter he could possibly be, and if they did not agree with that, then that was fine. He just wanted to be with his son, now, and be the best father he could possibly be.

~

Magnus entered Max’s room and saw that Max and Alec had dragged a lot of blankets and pillows onto the floor and were laying against the big pile of pillows while Alec read Max a book. Alec saw him when he walked in, and gestured with one finger against the back of the book for him to join them. Magnus went over and kicked off his shoes before crawling over to them. He laid back against the pillows and Max gave a sleepy flop of his hand and tugged Magnus’s arm around him. Alec moved his arm from around Max to go around Magnus as well. Magnus shifted Max so that he was sitting on his lap so they could both curl into Alec’s side. He closed his eyes as he rested his head on Alec’s shoulder, listening to the warm, comforting tone of Alec’s voice as he continued reading.

When Max drooped in Magnus’s arms, falling asleep easily, Magnus just curled both arms around his limp form, rubbing his tummy as his head tipped back against Magnus’s chest. He didn’t bother making Alec stop reading, though. He kept his eyes shut and just enjoyed the warm comfort of Alec and Max in his arms.

“And you’re both asleep,” Alec said suddenly and Magnus smiled against his shirt. “Oh, nope, you’re just pretending.” Magnus peeked out and quickly closed his eyes again when he saw Alec smiling down at him. 

“Nope, sleeping,” Magnus whispered, shushing Alec as he snuggled into his shoulder again. 

“You sure talk a lot for a sleeping person,” Alec said, and when Magnus peeked out again Alec faked a gasp. “Oh my God he’s sleeping with his eyes open!” he whispered and Magnus snorted before he could stop himself, pressing his face into Alec’s shirt. “And he is a bear!” Alec added making Magnus groan. 

“Stooooop-“

“A bear cub, allow me to correct myself,” Alec muttered and Magnus shook his head, cheek resting on Alec’s sleeve, pretending to sleep again. “A sleepy bear cub.”

Magnus knew his smile was ridiculous, but with his eyes shut he didn’t have to see Alec’s reaction to it. “Oh God, I’m in love with such a dork,” he chuckled as he nuzzled Alec’s shoulder. Alec tensed suddenly and Magnus realized, with a jolt, what he had just said. His eyes flew open quickly and he stared at Alec, fearful of what kind of reaction he would get. Alec looked at him with total and complete shock for a moment and Magnus shook his head some. “Alec, I’m s-“

“I love you, too,” Alec whispered, and Magnus’s words died instantly in his throat. Magnus opened his mouth to try and find anything to say in response, but instead, Alec ducked in and claimed his lips in a quick, clumsy kiss. Magnus barely got to respond before Alec pulled away and Magnus chased his lips, blinking up at Alec when he finally remembered how to breathe. “Sorry, but there’s a toddler’s knee in my stomach when I lean that far over,” Alec mumbled bashfully and Magnus beamed.

“God, you’re the cutest thing ever,” Magnus whispered, and Alec blushed, rolling his eyes.

“Magnus-“

Magnus shifted Max far enough that he could lean in and shut Alec up with a kiss. Alec responded immediately, though awkwardly, and Magnus was suddenly struck by a thought that had him pulling away and grinning in surprise. “Alexander,” he purred in a teasing tone and Alec frowned.

“What?”

Magnus wiggled his eyebrows. “Was that your first kiss?” he asked and Alec immediately looked down, flushing adorably. 

“Maybe,” he mumbled and Magnus giggled, unable to help himself.

“Oh, Darling, what stupid, stupid Nephilim there are in this world to have looked at that pretty face and never snatched you up before now,” he said, laying his head against Alec’s shoulder to smile up at him.

Alec looked at him cautiously. “You don’t think it’s kinda pathetic?”

Magnus lifted his head, frowning. “What? Alec, no.” He held his gaze, looking him in the eyes. “Why would you say that?” he asked, frowning. “You’re young and closeted, I’m just sad you’ve never gotten to explore that part of you. It’s not pathetic,” he comforted.

Alec shrugged, avoiding his gaze. “Most people my age are married already.”

“Most Nephilim, maybe,” Magnus said softly, nudging him in the side with his elbow. “You’re twenty-four. No reason to be ashamed of being inexperienced that young.”

Alec blushed but smiled, tightening his arm around Magnus to tug him closer and reach down to curl a hand around Max’s cheek. “I did everything backwards. Literally. I got a baby first, lived a few years as a single father, then fell in love with you before I’d had my first kiss.”

Magnus snuggled into his side. “Being a dad before you have your first kiss is pretty wild,” he joked, gazing into Alec’s eyes. “You woke up a part of me that I thought was long gone. I haven’t allowed myself to want love in so long, but you were such an amazing father, and you blew my mind because you were a Nephilim who was the most kind man I had ever met when history has taught me to fear the prejudices of your kind. I think half the reason I fell for you is because of how wonderful of a parent you are to a warlock baby. I love Max so much and being with you and Max together is my favorite place in the whole world.”

Alec smiled tiredly. “I would’ve never fallen for you if my son didn’t love you first.” Magnus just held Alec’s gaze for a long moment before closing his eyes and curling into Alec’s side again.

“Can I keep you?” Magnus asked tiredly and Alec nodded against his forehead, pressing his lips there before resting their heads together.

“Always.”

~

Having always been a light sleeper, Alec woke up when there was a light knock on Max’s door before it opened. He tensed some, tightening his arms around Max and Magnus both, only to relax some when he saw it was his dad and he was alone.

Robert saw he was awake and looked over the scene. Alec’s heart stopped beating when he realized his dad had definitely noticed how he held Magnus. However, he refused to show his fear as he carefully disentangled himself from the two. He slowly lowered Magnus back onto the pillows and caught Max when he rolled off of Magnus, gently resting him on the pillows as well. He moved to kneel and watched as Magnus sleepily tugged Max into his side more closely and Max fisted a hand into Magnus’s shirt, hanging onto him. 

When Alec stood, he walked over to his father, who led him out into the hallway. Alec pulled the door shut behind him and leaned against it, carefully keeping his face blank while Robert stuck his hands in his pockets, looking as awkward as Alec felt. “So… Is there something you might like to tell me?” he asked, looking up at Alec uncomfortably.

Alec crossed his arms over his chest. “Not particularly. I’ve already damaged my place in the Clave enough for one day. And with the clear lack of any care whatsoever about Downworlders lives, I think it’s probably best for everybody if I don’t tell anybody anything at all for the foreseeable future,” he said sharply, though without any malice.

Robert nodded, looking down. “I’m not saying I agree with them, but the Law is not for Mundanes. That’s where they’re coming from-“

“I don’t care about the Law, I care about right and wrong,” Alec argued. “That Mundane murdered innocent people, he does not deserve to go unpunished just because he’s Mundane.”

Robert looked up and nodded. “Which is the conclusion they reached once I reminded them that the knives he used were demonic,” he said and Alec blinked in surprise. Robert just shrugged. “He clearly sought a demon to create weapons that could inflict that kind of damage onto Downworlders, and he had help from someone in the Seelie court with that liquid that was used to control that family he murdered, proving he can name names to help us find some that did break the Law and he is an accomplice to them.” Robert smiled sadly. “He isn’t going free. He’s going to be punished once they find a way to get him imprisoned somewhere. Idris isn’t meant for Mundanes so he can’t be held in Alicante, but he won’t go free, that’s for sure.”

Alec released a tension he hadn’t known he was carrying. “Thank the Angel,” he sighed. 

“I didn’t know your mother was like that about your son,” Robert said, making Alec look at him in surprise. Robert looked troubled as he spoke. “I never really understood your desire to adopt a baby, especially a warlock but any baby, at your age without being married and already having children of your own, but I never, ever thought she would say such terrible things about him.” He shook his head. “She called him a ‘thing’. And said he wasn’t worthy of your name,” he said, as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard. “I know I haven’t ever really had anything to do with Max, but Alec, she’s wrong,” he said firmly. He reached out and put his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “I know you love him. He’s your son the same way you are my son, and I cannot imagine how angry you must be at how she treats him. I would have never forgiven my mother if she had treated you that way, and I have no idea why your mother would ever do that to you.”

Alec was honestly surprised by his dad’s reaction. He hadn’t expected his father to actually disagree with Maryse. “She told me that the Clave was already not going to give me the Institute, because I have a warlock son and made it this far without being married, so I’m pretty sure they really aren’t now.” He shrugged. “As long as they don’t recall me to Idris, nothing matters. I couldn’t take Max to the house in Alicante and I’m not leaving my son here to be raised by somebody else, that’s for sure. I just hope whoever does get the Institute isn’t as much of a bigot as Mom, because I already don’t trust half the people here with Max. There’s a reason Izzy and Jace and I don’t all go patrolling at once as it is. One of us is always with Max unless it’s an emergency.”

Robert shook his head. “I don’t blame you, honestly.” Alec smiled slightly, unable to help but be happy with his dad’s response. “Just because I don’t understand… a lot,” he added, looking at the door uneasily, clearly thinking about the obvious feelings Alec had for Magnus. “But I understand being a father that loves his children, and I know we’re Shadowhunters, we’re supposed to care more about our mission than our own interests, but all parents who say they put upholding the Law first over their kids are lying. We are all lying and we all know it,” he said bluntly. “I don’t think there’s a mother or father among the Nephilim who wouldn’t tell the Council where to stick the Law if it came down to protecting their child. Just because your son is a warlock doesn’t change anything.”

“If you ask Mom, it should,” Alec sighed. “I just-“ He looked down the hall, jaw clenching as he fought all the emotions warring inside of him. “I spent so much of my life doing everything she wants because I wanted her to be proud of me, and now I realize that I should’ve never had to do that. She’s my mom. She should have been proud of who I was without making me into the perfect legacy for her to leave behind, and now that I’ve ruined that for her, she treats me like shit.” Alec looked at his dad again. “Max is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I don’t care if she thinks I’m a failure because of that.”

Robert chuckled softly. “Of course you don’t. He’s your son. Don’t worry about your mother,” he said, shaking his head. “She can think whatever she wants, it doesn’t matter. And as for the Clave, who knows,” he said sadly. “Maybe they won’t pick you. But it’s their loss if they don’t. You’re a strong leader, and I’m so proud of you, Alec.” Robert tugged him into a hug, surprising Alec. His family didn’t really hug much. “You’re my son, and I love you,” he said softly. “No matter what.”

Alec pulled away, biting his lip nervously. “Not even…” he trailed off, looking over at the door, and Robert shook his head.

“No matter what,” he reiterated.

~

Alec stood defiantly with Max on his hip and Magnus at his side talking to Isabelle as they watched the Council leave with the Mundane prisoner in chains. None of them stopped to speak to him, and neither did his mother, but his dad stopped to say goodbye and hug Isabelle and say goodbye to him and Jace.

He stopped in front of Magnus and held out his hand. “Warlock Bane. Thank you for helping my son and grandson. With everything.”

Magnus looked as surprised as everybody else did but he shook his hand all the same. “It’s not something you have to thank me for, Robert. Max was a warlock who needed help and his father loved him enough to find the closest warlock he could and ask for help. I just happened to be the lucky man who got to get to know such wonderful people and such a sweet child.” Robert seemed to not be fooled by his magnanimous tone, because he just looked at Alec, then back at Magnus, which was not what Magnus was expecting at all.

“You’re definitely lucky to have become so close with my son, that’s for sure. He’s a great man,” Robert said bluntly, making Alec glare at the side of his head as his face burned bright red. He nodded to them all and gave Max a little wave goodbye before following the rest of the Council in leaving.

After they were gone, Jace and Isabelle leaned out and looked down the row at Alec. “Oh? What was that about?” Isabelle asked and Jace raised an eyebrow.

Magnus glanced up at Alec, who looked around to be sure nobody was coming, before shyly looking down to slide his hand into Magnus’s, carefully lacing their fingers together. Magnus beamed up at him and Max looked at their hands curiously. “Why you holding Daddy’s hand?” he asked, and Alec smiled down at Max.

“Cause Magnus is my boyfriend.”

Magnus’s face broke into a giant smile. “I’m your boyfriend, huh?” He leaned into Alec’s side and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “You’re the cutest.”

Alec looked up worriedly. “Well, you don’t have to be-“

“Oh no, I’m definitely your boyfriend,” Magnus interrupted, beaming. “You’re stuck with me now, Darling.”

Jace raised an eyebrow at them. “Oh so is that what all these ‘magic lessons’ have been?”

“Of course not,” Magnus argued. “Max’s powers are very difficult to control and I have to help him learn. His wellbeing and his future with magic is extremely important,” he said passionately. “I will not let my sweet little Blueberry’s development suffer just because I think his dad is the cutest boy I’ve ever seen.”

Alec smiled at the back of Magnus’s head. “And I love you because you love my baby,” he replied and Magnus turned back and stood on his toes to peck Alec’s lips sweetly.

“Damn straight, Alexander.”

“Ewwwwww,” Max said, slapping a hand over his eyes. “Gross! Daddy, kissing is icky!”

Alec gave him a playful frown. “Oh yeah? You saying Magnus is gross?”

“Kissing gives you cooties,” Max proclaimed very seriously. “You got them now.”

Magnus and Alec shared a look and Magnus smirked, turning to slide his arms around Alec and Max together, grinning up at Alec. “Did you hear that, Darling? We’ve got cooties now.”

“Mmhmm, I hear they’re contagious,” Alec replied and Magnus turned to Max, who gave him a distrustful frown. 

“There’s only one thing to do. Give them to Max!” he said, grabbing Max and tickling him while he pressed kisses to his cheek and hair while he squealed, squirming away.

“NOOOO! COOTIES!” he shouted and Alec lifted him higher and kissed the other side of his face, making him squeal again. “DADDY NOOOO!” 

Jace snorted out a short laugh and then came over, reaching between them to grab Max, tugging him free. “Alright, stop giving my nephew cooties, you monsters,” he said, hugging Max close. “It’s okay, Max. I’ll save you from Daddy and his boyfriend’s icky gross germs!” he promised and Max gave a dramatic sigh.

“Daddy ‘n Magnus are gross, Uncle Jace,” he said bluntly and Magnus snickered as he laid his head against Alec’s chest momentarily before pulling away, knowing they couldn’t risk being seen just yet.

Isabelle walked over and smiled at them both. “I’m so happy for you, Big Brother,” she said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “But now, Jace and I have to go disinfect our poor nephew.” She winked at Alec. “Give Daddy and his new boyfriend time to go sort out that cootie problem,” she teased, slinging an arm around Jace’s shoulders as they started to leave. “C’mon, Max. Don’t worry, we know how to fix you. I’m thinking hot chocolate.”

“Not yours!” Max cried in horror, and Alec snorted very unattractively before he could help it, slapping a hand over his mouth as they turned the corner at the end of the hall. Magnus, however, just smirked, grabbing his hand to pull away.

“Just so you know, Alexander, I’m never letting you live that horrendous noise down,” he said, tugging Alec into walking before releasing his hand again.

Alec bumped their hands together between them with a look of affection. “Never live it down, huh? Sounds like you plan on keeping me around,” he said in a joking tone, though he did look nervous.

Magnus nodded very seriously even if there was visible mirth in the depths of his eyes. “Oh yes, for as long as I possibly can,” he said and Alec ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck in a flustered manner.

“I like that idea,” he mumbled and Magnus smirked, looking ahead as he and Alec walked on.

“I figured you might,” he said teasingly. He glanced back at Alec, and nearly melted when he saw the look for pure, genuine love in Alec’s eyes as he met Magnus’s. Magnus knew it would be hard for them. They would have to hide something they both were very happy about, they would have to teach Max to lie no matter how badly it broke their hearts, and with the uncertainty of Alec’s future there was no telling what might happen to them.

But Magnus knew, with every fiber of his being, that Alexander Lightwood and his son were poised to become the one thing Magnus had always wanted but, in spite of his luck, magic, and wealth, had never managed to have: his family. Knowing that dream was finally a possibility for his future made everything worth the risk.


End file.
